


Counting Up

by SYNIC4L



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: M/M, Multi, and squirrel x satt, boys are cute and oblivious, but thats cause theres barely any reason to ship the last two but, fight me! im love them, i might disappear for awhile lol, its the first nogla x ohm fic, more background ships later on, new ships owo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-06 20:29:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15893556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SYNIC4L/pseuds/SYNIC4L
Summary: (This is a soulmate au! I'm using "Timer of how much time you spent with your soulmate." as a prompt!)It started when Ohm went to comment on one of Nogla's videos, and found something that made him stop in his tracks.





	1. Stupid Fucking Golf It

**Author's Note:**

> I! Do! Not! Actually! Ship! Real! People!  
> This is just for fun and goofs, and me getting some good writing practice. I ship their YouTube personas (their on camera selves) and that's it. I just genuinely enjoy their content and wanted to write something fun! 
> 
> Also, the first chapter is short because it's just starting it off.  
> Anyway, enjoy.

Ryan stretched, leaning back into his comfortable office chair, letting out a yawn. He'd finished all his work for today, and it was dark out. Might as well hop into bed and check social media for an hour or so. He pushed himself to his feet, grabbing his phone off his desk and sliding it into his pocket. He made his way to his room and pulled his jeans off and dropped them into his laundry basket before collapsing into bed, phone now in hand. As Ryan snuggled under the covers, he swiped to unlock the device, clicking onto Twitter first, then checked Instagram, then, for the hell of it, grabbed some earbuds and clicked onto YouTube. When you're too tired to do anything else, what better to do than to watch your friends' videos, right?

Ryan shifted so he was laying comfortably propped up on his stomach, and clicked onto Nogla's most recent video. He knew exactly what it was due to the title, and it made him roll his eyes. "[NOGLA THE BULLY! - Golf It](https://youtu.be/WYvgkm98CkI)" Even so, he couldn't help the small smile that tugged at his lips at he watched his friends, and himself, goof around. He went to scroll down to the comment section, but accidentally clicked the button the show the description instead. "Oops." He mumbled to himself, not wanting to scroll through it, he went to click it again so it would disappear, but a word in the first line caught his attention. It was his name. Ryan read the description raising an eyebrow, smiling harder, then chuckling and shaking his head, forgiving Nogla just little bit for all the bullying he endured.

During the recording of the video, his emotions were a literal rollercoaster. Because no matter how much he wanted to be mad or at least really annoyed with Nogla for fucking him that hard, he couldn't. Ryan loved it when his friends were happy and, well, his suffering made Nogla laugh a whole fucking lot. So fuck it, he thought, the score doesn't mean anything in the end anyway.

 

After a moment, Ryan hid the description again but this time, he ignored the comments and just made the video full screen so he could watch it better. He kept watching until the end of the video, then closed YouTube. He set his phone on his bedside table and settled back into bed, sprawled out in a position which was oddly quite comfortable. As Ryan's eyes closed, he caught sight of the small square on his palm with a 0 in the center of it. He'd never met his soulmate in his entire life. Maybe he would someday soon. 


	2. PAX Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter does not take place immediately after the other one. But for other chapters, it'll be mostly one string of events.
> 
> Also, all the names are what their names are in Ohm's phone (not actually, just in the story obviously)
> 
> Also x2, this isn't based in reality at all when it comes to all of them going to PAX.

Ryan sat up, stretching his arms up over his head and yawning, blinking a few times to wake himself up more. He yawned again and clumsily reached for his phone, missing at first before he grabbed it and leaned back in bed again. Just as he dragged a finger across the screen to unlock it, the device buzzed, signaling a text from the group chat that he was in with a bunch of his friends. He tapped the notification, blinking sleepily at the link that popped up on screen. He was still half asleep pretty much. The link led to a new chat, one with a different selection of people, though they were all still his friends. The name of the chat appeared as 'PAX HYYYYYPE', and Ryan smiled a bit, and scrolled through the messages already there. 

 

Toonzy: Greetings, motherfuckers.

Satt: hey!!

Jiggly: wow this is an interesting group chat

Toonzy: Delirious and I worked hard to put it together, excuse me.

Mini: PAX HYYYYYYYYPE!!

Squirrel: I'm finally apart of something like this?? 

Delirious: hell yeah you are!!!

Evanoss: Wait, Delirious, you and Ohm are coming this year???

Delirious: umm

Delirious: mmmmaybe

Toonzy: Yes.

Delirious: HE WAS TALKING TO ME, ASSHOLE

Toonzy: GIVE A BETTER ANSWER NEXT TIME THEN, BITCH

 

At that, Ryan snickered, glad to see that all was normal with his friends, and nothing had happened without him. 

 

Ohm: Hey guys

Delirious: ohmie!! help! cartoonz is being meeenn

Ohm: Being men huh. Dunno if I can help with that, Del

Del: >:( you know what i meant

Moo: are you guys bullying Delirious?

Ohm: I would never!

Delirious: THAT'S A LIE 

Jiggly: mom's here

Moo: mom?

Jiggly: you

Moo: but i'm not the mom friend

Moo: am i?

_Several people are typing..._

Toonzy: You kinda are.

Ohm: You are

Evanoss: yeah definitely the mom friend

Moo: i guess you're right

Squirrel: wait, is this everyone that's coming?

Toonzy: Should be. Not everyone can make it this time obviously so. This is the best we got.

Marcel: You morons woke me up with all your texting

Mini: good morning to you too, marcel

Brian: how many messages did you guys send holy fuck

_Evanoss is typing_

Brian: don't fucking do it evan

Evanoss: look who's last :)

Brian: fuck off

Ohm: Wait

Ohm: He's not last

Brian: HAH

Evanoss: aw dammit

Ohm: Where's Nogla?

Evanoss: no idea

 

Ryan frowned a bit, not noticing he was even doing it. Usually Nogla would have joined them and maybe be in the middle of an argument with Brian or Mini by now.

 

Squirrel: uh idk if this is a weird question or not, but you all stopped texting and i'm curious so

Squirrel: who here has actually met their soulmate? and who's still at zero?

Moo: it's not weird, don't worry

Moo: i've met mine, obviously. i mean, i married her, haha

Satt: i kinda find the concept of soulmates to be weird though

Squirrel: like in a bad way?

Satt: oh, no, just it's kinda odd how we're "destined to be with someone", ya know?

_Delirious is typing..._

Ohm: We already know your soulmate, Del

Delirious: HEY just cause ur jealous i got cartoonz and you're still at 0 and without a hot boyfriend doesn't mean you gotta be mean ;(

Ohm: Psh, me? Jealous? Nah

Toonzy: Gee, thanks, Ohm.

Ohm: <3

 

Ryan set his phone down when nobody else said anything new and pushed himself off his bed. He did have to pack for PAX. He'd finally be seeing his friends face to face for the first time. Not his fans. He still wanted to remain anonymous online but.. Doing a panel with his friends sounded fun. He would be backstage with Delirious so just their voices were there. And they were gonna wear stuff to cover their faces. He was excited. And terrified beyond belief.

Ryan walked over to his closet, grabbing some t-shirts, jeans, socks, boxers, and whatever else he needed, then packed them neatly into his suitcase. He grabbed two hoodies too--a gray one and a white one. And a pair of sunglasses that covered most of his face because they were huge.

He'd love to wear a bandana mask thing, but then he wouldn't be able to see, so sunglasses it was.

Once he'd packed everything else he needed--computer, chargers, 3 books, and other stuff, he flopped onto his bed just in time to receive a text. 

 

Daithi: sup guys

Brian: LOOK WHO'S FUCKIN LAST THIS TIME, EVAN

Daithi: w o w

Ohm: What took you so long? I'm already packed

Daithi: I've been packing for the last hour, what do you want from me

Ohm: Ohh

Ohm: That's fair

Daithi: i know it is B)

Daithi: anyway, im gonna finish packing. bye ohm, bye everyone who isn't brian

 

Ryan giggled at Nogla's goodbye, a goofy grin on his face. He set his phone down again and stared up at his ceiling happily. He couldn't wait to be with some of his closest friends in just over a day from right now. He loved imagining what he'd do when he saw them before but now.. He was kind of lost. Only kind of, because he knew that he really wanted to hug them all. And tackle hug at least one person. Probably Toonz or Evan. It wasn't his fault that physical affection made him extremely happy.

Ryan picked up his phone then, ready to send one last text just to make sure that his daydreamt plans would stay intact and he could actually give them all hugs.

 

Ohm: Nobody here minds being tackled in a hug, right?


	3. Double Zero

Ryan woke up earlier than normal, around 7am, just to make sure he was completely prepared for his flight, even though he HAD been adding whatever other little things he needed the past couple days. The airport his flight took off from wasn't too far away from his house, about 40 minutes, which meant he and Squirrel would have about an hour to do whatever they wanted. Yes, Squirrel. He had arrived at Ryan's house yesterday, because he didn't want to fly across the entire U.S in one go, as they were all going to PAX West in Seattle. It was already a little over 4 hours from Chicago to Seattle, but it was at least 2 hours longer for Squirrel, and he didn't want to do it alone. So, Ryan said fuck it, why not. Even if it would mean that Squirrel was the first one to see his face, he had to start somewhere, and it would be easier with just one person to start. And now here they were, with Ryan falling out of bed in an attempt to shut up his alarm clock. 

While he was successful in turning it off, he crashed to the ground with a loud thump only a second later. It took about 10 seconds for Squirrel to stumble in, his brown hair a mess, meaning he'd probably been woken up by Ryan falling like that. Oops. "Ohm? What the fuck?" The younger male rubbed at his eyes and stared down at Ryan, looking confused and tired at the sight of his friend on the floor. Ryan pushed himself up to his knees, stretched and yawned, then pushed himself all the way to his feet and set his clock back on his bedside table roughly, ignoring the fact that he'd managed to take it with him when he fell. "G'morning Squirrel, sorry for waking you up like that." Ryan yawned again, tossing his blankets at his bed and turning to his friend with an apologetic smile. Squirrel just shook his head and grinned sleepily at him. "It's fine. We only have like an hour before we have to leave anyway, right?" To that, Ryan nodded, then he nudged Squirrel out of the room. "Yeah, now go get dressed." 

As soon as Squirrel had gone to get changed, Ryan grabbed a new pair of jeans and a plain green t-shirt and pulled both articles of clothing on. When he was dressed, he grabbed a pair of socks and headed out of his room and into the kitchen, stopping and leaning against a counter so he could put the socks on before going back to making some eggs for him and Squirrel. As he was sliding their two plates into place on his small dining table, his friend trotted out of the bathroom, running a hand through his somewhat less messy hair. "Oh, woah, thanks, Ohm!" Squirrel chirped, plopping into his seat and shooting a bright grin towards Ryan before taking a bite. Ryan smiled back at him and started eating as well, aware that they didn't have much longer until they'd have to double check, then get everything in the car and leave. They couldn't risk being late--every other flight was probably completely full. 

\--

Ryan shoved his last bag into the back of his car, reaching towards Squirrel's second bag and tucking it in neatly next to his, then added the smallest one on top. It fit perfectly. He slammed the trunk closed and turned to face Squirrel, who was locking up behind them. He held the keys out for Ryan to take them back, along with his carry on bag, which was a turquoise backpack. "I'm all set, man." Squirrel answered Ryan's unspoken question and walked over to the passenger side while the other man hopped into the driver's seat.

"You better be." Ryan joked, chuckling and buckling his seatbelt, then checking to make sure Squirrel was buckled in too before he started driving to the airport. 

The ride was fairly quiet, until Squirrel started playing some music, though he had to turn it off after a couple minutes as they reached the airport. The two made their way through security and everything, setting their bags down and heading to their gate to wait for the plane. It was lucky that they left early, because there was a bit of traffic, and they arrived exactly on time. They barely had to wait at all and were on the plane in no time. Ryan let Squirrel have the window seat, and sat next to him, tucking his bag under his seat and buckling in. He wasn't very used to airplanes, and had kinda been using Squirrel as a guide. It wasn't that he hadn't been on one before, it was just that all of his friends had been on them far more than he ever had. 

It was quiet again for awhile, aside from other passengers and a crying baby, and Squirrel even fell asleep leaning somewhat on Ryan's shoulder. Ryan would've woken him but.. He didn't really mind. And he was tired too. So he let himself drift off for a couple minutes. Or at least, that's what it felt like, because before he knew it, Squirrel was tapping him awake. 

"Hey, Ryan?" Everyone had made a deal to only call him and Delirious by their birth names in public, or not by any name while they were out in the open near PAX.

"Mmm?" Was all that came out of Ryan's mouth as he blinked over at his friend.

"I just noticed you have a zero on your soulmate timer." Squirrel whispered, pointing at his hand. Ryan nodded, fully awake now. "I do too! We're zero buddies!" 

"Maybe you'll meet your soulmate in Seattle." 

"Maybe YOU'LL meet your soulmate in Seattle."

"I doubt that we could both meet our soulmates there." Ryan chuckled softly, glad that Squirrel was here and talking to him, because his anxiety was through the roof again. It just now hit him that,, there was no way of going back now. He was gonna meet a bunch of his friends face to face for the very first time. It was difficult meeting Squirrel alone, so how was it going to be with all of them?

"Are you okay?" Ryan was snapped out of his thoughts by Squirrel's question and he nodded. "Just having a crisis because it just hit me that there's no going back now." He replied bluntly, though he had a semi joking tone and was still smiling. Squirrel wrapped an arm around his shoulders and patted him on the head. 

"You'll be okay. Your face is great!" He reassured him, beaming at him before removing his arm and leaning over to look out the window. 

"Heh, thanks, man."

\--

Jiggly: i'm first at the hotel, hah

Squirrel: Ohm and i are still on the plane but we're only a bit away, im using the plane's wi-fi and ohm is asleep

Toonzy: Delirious and I should be arriving about the same time as y'all.

Evanoss: but you know who's gonna be last?

Mini: you?

Evanoss: no..

Evanoss: brian

Evanoss: and nogla 

Mini: oh right

Satt: I'm close!

Jiggly: oh jeez i didn't need to know thar

Jiggly: that*

Satt: tO THE HOTEL

Jiggly: that's what they all say

Mini: I should be there really soon actually, I'm in Seattle

Jiggly: oh good, i don't wanna be alone with satt

Satt: HEY!!

Jiggly: i'm joking, don't worry satt, i care about you very much, man

Moo: I just landed!

Ohm: sp did wd

Moo: you good Ohm??

Squirrel: he's tired

Moo: ohhh

\--

Ryan just woke up when the plane was landing, and was too tired to type properly in the groupchat right away, so he just attempted and didn't bother doing anything else. He shoved his phone into his pocket and walked towards the baggage, grabbing his stuff while Squirrel grabbed his own. They headed out of the airport, Squirrel having to lead the way to an uber that they had to take them to their hotel--Warwick Hotel. Close to the convention center and it even had a pool. It was perfect for a group of best friends to hang out in during their free time.

Especially the pool part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the two comments I got: thank you guys so much hshndnf  
> I'm glad you're enjoying the story as much as I'm enjoying writing it!! <3  
> And I got so excited that I wrote this chapter on a school night, oops.
> 
> <3


	4. Familiar Faces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> high school is in full force right about now so i cannot guarantee any sort of regular update schedule. i'll write a bit during lunch and on weekends but with homework i have no idea how long it'll take for full chapters to be done. thanks for being patient!
> 
> also, just pretend that everyone mentioned here was like. apart of the gc but they weren't talking at that moment bc i didn't write out the entire gc obviously  
> so  
> yeah

Ryan blinked slowly, waking up from his nap due to Squirrel shaking his shoulder. "Ryan! We're here!" Squirrel grinned at him, pointing out the window and up at the giant building they'd pulled up in front of. The two friends clambered out of the car and Ryan paid their driver while Squirrel got all their bags out of the back. "Thanks a lot, have a good day." Ryan smiled at the driver and waved, then turned to help carry stuff inside. 

"We're on the very top floor right?" Squirrel asked while they were waiting at the front desk. Ryan nodded, looking around the huge lobby in amazement. He'd been in hotels plenty before, but none as nice as this one, since it was for PAX. He and Squirrel greeted the lady at the front and got their keycards in record time before they piled all their stuff on a cart and headed towards the elevators. "Are you ready for everyone to see your face for the first time?" Squirrel asked, tapping the very top button and letting the elevator doors shut. "Yeah. I'm terrified. But I managed to survive you, I know I'll be fine." Ryan replied, forcing a playful grin. Squirrel shoved him lightly, grinning back at him. "Hey! That was rude and uncalled for." He joked, leaning against Ryan's shoulder. Ryan snickered and patted the top of his head in return. "You know I love you, Squirrel." He replied, earning an eye roll and another small shove. "Right, uh huh."

On cue, the elevator doors pulled open, revealing a long, pleasantly decorated hallway before them. It split into a couple directions at the end, so if the others were out in the hallway or something, Squirrel and Ryan wouldn't see them until they turned the corner. There was only so long Ryan could stall before he had to see them all face to face, and there was nothing left for him to do to stall more. So, he stepped out of the elevator, pulling the cart with him. Squirrel was pushing the cart from behind and keeping it from getting stuck. He seemed to sense Ryan's hesitation and flashed him a bright, encouraging smile from where he stood. "You got this, Ohm!" He chirped, earning a soft chuckle and a smile from his friend. "Thanks, Squirrel." He mumbled, turning away and starting to walk down the hallway again. He took a deep breath as they reached the corner, and stepped around it. The hallway was empty, but one of the doors at the end of it was propped open, and if Ryan remembered correctly, it was one of the room belonging to them. 

Ryan unlocked the door to their room, one next to the one at the very end of the hallway, and let Squirrel push the cart inside their room. "You wanna take care of the cart? I'll get our stuff off and go see who's already here." Ryan offered, getting a nod in return, and he started pulling their suitcases and bags off the cart. He simply set them on the floor for now so Squirrel could put the thing back as fast as possible. As soon as the doorway was cleared, with Squirrel's stuff on one of the two beds in the room and Ryan's stuff on the other, Ryan headed out to the room across the hall. He knocked twice and waited until someone yelled "COME IN!"

Slowly, the man stepped into the room, curious whether they'd recognize him or not. He walked into the main area where Satt, Anthony, Evan, and Craig were all sitting on the two beds in the room. It seemed like the only ones missing, besides the ones who were on the floor below like Smii7y, John, Scotty, Marcel, and everyone else who was joining them at PAX, were Brock, Toonz, Delirious, Brian, and Nogla. Ryan froze at the entrance to the main room, blinking too fast to really see. 

".. Ohm?" After a couple beats of silence, Craig's voice broke the silence, and Ryan slowly raised his hand and waved. 

"Um. Hey, yeah, Squirrel and I just got here, so uh.." Despite what he had planned, Ryan found himself barely able to move or speak. He was still frozen where he stood, and his friends were all staring at him. At least, they were until Evan jumped up and walked over, pulling Ryan into a hug that broke whatever kind of trance he was in because he hugged back without hesitation. In fact, the man melted into the hug a bit, not wanting to pull away when Evan finally did, because god,, he didn't know how much he needed a hug from one of his best friends. 

"Welcome to Seattle, man." Evan spoke once he stepped away, going to sit in his spot again. Ryan stayed where he was, awkwardly standing until he heard footsteps and turned around just as Squirrel slid into the room. He was much quicker to wave at everyone, and sat down on the floor between the beds. "Whatcha guys doing?" He asked, gesturing for Ryan to sit as well, which he did pretty fast.

"Normal Uno. I know how much you love those fuckin' rabbit things, Ohm, but we've only got the regular version here." Anthony raised an eyebrow at Ryan, grinning. At that, Ryan rolled his eyes and grinned back at him.

"Deal us in, boys." 

\--

It was a few hours later, and everyone had arrived except Nogla and Brian, which did make sense, seeing as they had a 12 hour flight and even though they had left before Squirrel and Ryan, they'd definitely be a couple hours later. Cartoonz and Delirious, on the other hand, had arrived fairly quickly, though not as fast as Brock, and Delirious actually did tackle Ryan, and Toonz joined in, and all three managed to get Squirrel to join them too. Ryan had never been happier, really. Though he was almost there as soon as he, being closest to the door, caught sight of Nogla and Brian in the hallway. He shot to his feet and darted out to greet them, hiding until they set their bags in their room before sprinting in behind them and tackling Nogla in a hug first as he was closest. Over the past few hours, Ryan had become much more comfortable around everyone, and each person had gotten at least one or many more hugs from him. 

"Jesus fucking christ Ohm! Where the hell'd you come from!" Nogla yelled, clearly very surprised, but Ryan just grinned when he hugged back once he recovered from being tackled. And because of how quickly Nogla could tell it was him.

"We've been waiting for you guys for forever! And how'd you know it was me, dude? I didn't even say anything." As he spoke, Ryan grabbed Brian and tugged him in for a hug as well.

"Cause nobody else could have your stupid fuckin' face." Nogla replied, shaking his head at Ryan, who finally let go of both him and Brian. "That's fair. But you know you love my dumb face." Ryan announced, grinning even harder and starting back towards Craig's room? He actually didn't know for sure. Maybe Craig or Evan and whoever they were both sharing with. Nogla rolled his eyes meanwhile Brian had already started putting his luggage away. "Sure, Ohm!" He called down the hallway to Ryan, who was already turning to go back into the room. 

"Hey guess wh--"

"Brian and Nogla are finally here?" Anthony interrupted, in the middle of putting their most recent game of Uno away, a smirk on his face. Ryan nodded, plopping down next to Delirious, who'd taken his spot next to Squirrel pretty fast. They'd been whispering to each other at random, and it  kind of scared Ryan, actually. They were a dangerous duo, even outside of Fortnite. They were also adorable. I mean, Delirious was always cute, and so was Squirrel. And now they were giggling and plotting together. Sudddenly, breaking the very short period of silence, Nogla and Brian arrived in the room, Brian flinging himself onto a bed next to Brock, Craig, and Evan almost immediately, letting out a loud groan. 

"Why couldn't one of you room with that asshole." He groaned into a pillow. Everyone burst out laughing at that, Anthony laughing the hardest. "Oh wow, thanks, Brian, you cunt." Nogla commented, though he was grinning as he sat down in the open space next to Ryan. "Maybe I'll steal him later." Ryan joked, winking at Nogla and getting shoved playfully the other way. "You better be buying me dinner first, bitch." He replied, shaking his head at Ryan. 

\--

After another hour, everyone separated into groups to go to their rooms to get sleep for PAX the next day. They all left Evan and Anthony's room where they'd all been sitting for the past hours, and Brock and Craig went into their room right next to it. Brian and Nogla disappeared into theirs, Toonz and Delirious were right next to Squirrel and Ryan, obviously, being best friends and boyfriends. Satt went a floor down where he was sharing a room with someone else, probably Bryce or something. 

As soon as Squirrel and Ryan were in their room, Ryan stole the bathroom first, getting changed into some pajamas and falling into bed without a second thought. He should've probably brushed his teeth, but he was too tired. It'd been a long day, and he was asleep before the lights were off. Squirrel carefully finished getting ready for bed, staying quiet so he wouldn't wake his friend, and even pulling a blanket over top of him before he finally shut the lamp off and curled up in his own bed.

"Night, Ohm."


	5. Double.. Not.. Zero?

Ryan woke up with sunlight streaming through the huge floor to ceiling window next to his bed, and he rolled over on his side at first, not wanting to get up. After a moment though, he glanced at the clock and pushed himself up at the realization that he only had an hour before he had to be at PAX for a panel. Enough time to get coffee and look around a bit at PAX beforehand, hopefully.

Ryan sat up in bed and stretched, feeling a lot like a cat as he did so. He took a few minutes to adjust to the rather bright room, then slid out of bed. He noticed that Squirrel was already up and not in the room, so he was probably with the others. Ryan used the opportunity to quickly change and brush his teeth before he grabbed a couple things like his phone, the keycard, and his wallet, and left the room, locking up behind him. With just a glance around the hallway, he noticed the same room they had all been in yesterday was open, so he poked his head in to see if everyone was inside.

"Look who's last this time." He heard someone comment from inside, the voice unmistakably belonging to Nogla.

"Hey! It's not my fault Squirrel didn't wake me up when he got up." Ryan replied, walking into the room to see mostly the same setup as yesterday, though everyone was in different positions, and Satt was missing. He sat on one of the beds next to Brian this time, leaning on his friend's shoulder tiredly. "I need coffee." He mumbled into Brian's shoulder, earning an eye roll and a couple laughs. 

"Good thing we got that already then, huh." He heard Anthony comment, looking up just as a cup of fresh coffee was pressed into his hands, and his face lit up.

"Thank fuck." He stated, taking a sip and making a face as it was waaaay too bitter. "Where's the milk and sugar?" He asked no one in particular. Squirrel pointed at a counter though, as he was one of the only ones not absorbed in another conversation already. Ryan didn't have the energy to listen in on all of them right now. He needed to wake up first. So, he stood and trotted over to the counter to fix his coffee just the way he liked it before sitting next to Brian again. "Are we gonna head out soon?" He asked, gaining Brock's attention this time as Delirious stole Squirrel's. Brock nodded, glancing at Evan. "You and Delirious should probably be separate from the rest of us until we're backstage at the panel if you want to be cautious about your identities though. Our fans are smart, they can put two and two together. You two will have to be there first as well, just to make sure the mic system is all set for you." This time Ryan nodded--he'd gone over the plan a hundred times in his head. He was ready. "You might be able to take one of us with you if you want. But it has to be someone who people wouldn't really think would be with you two. Definitely not Luke or Evan in that case." Brock added on, glancing around the group again. Ryan blinked and did so as well, then looked at Brock again. 

"What about Nogla? I mean, he'd get recognized but it wouldn't be super obvious that we're the ones with him." He suggested, and his reply seemed to gain everyone else's attention. Brock slowly shrugged and both him and Ryan turned their attention to Nogla. "Nogla, you wanna join Delirious and Ohm for most of PAX? At least for today? You don't have to--" 

"Sure, I don't want you two getting lonely or anythin'." He was quick to respond, grinning at Ryan and Delirious. Ryan already had a huge smile on his face. "I don't think it's physically possible to get lonely or bored with you and Delirious around." Craig said just as Delirious opened his mouth. Instead of saying whatever it was he was going to say, Delirious started laughing. 

"Very true. Though you could be with just one of 'em and still never get bored. I know from experience." Cartoonz agreed, nudging his boyfriend in the side and chuckling along with him.

\--

They all left the hotel once Ryan finished his coffee, and split up into groups so they'd fit into Ubers. Luke, Evan, and Brock were in one, Anthony, Craig, Brian, and Squirrel were in another, and Delirious, Ryan, and Nogla were in the last. Everyone who wasn't with them was meeting them there for the panel or after it if they weren't in it.

Delirious stole the passenger seat immediately, leaving Ryan and Nogla to take the backseat. Ryan ended up leaning against Nogla's shoulder after a minute, though his friend playfully shoved him off, resulting in a yelp from Ryan. He pouted at Nogla, but leaned against the car door instead. He was in the perfect position so the sun that was coming in through the window would hit the back of his head, and he could stare at Nogla. Ryan didn't mean to stare at first, but then he started noticing how attractive he was. In a completely, totally friendly and platonic way, of course. He kept his eyes half closed like he was still pretty tired, in case his friend questioned him, but.. He was still staring. 

Ryan snapped out of his half daze as soon as the car pulled to a stop, and he unbuckled and leapt out almost immediately, grinning as he looked up at the convention center, already starting to get busy. "C'mon guys, I wanna look around while we can." He called over to Delirious and Nogla, the latter of whom was busy with the Uber driver for a moment. After about 10 minutes however, the three friends were finally inside, and both Ryan and Delirious couldn't stop staring at everything. Nogla kept grabbing both of their shirts to pull them in a certain direction, going towards where their panel was, but letting them look around while they walked. 

"This,, is amazing." Ryan mumbled, not at anyone, really. But he got a nod from Delirious and a chuckle from Nogla anyway.

"I bet there's tons of people here with merch o' yours. Both of ya. Just look around." He commented, subtly gesturing at a girl who looked about 14 or 15 with a H2O Delirious phone case. Delirious studied her for a moment before noticing, then grinned even wider. "That's so fuckin' awesome." He whispered, and Ryan couldn't help but agree. 

\--

At one point, a kid who looked to be either 10 or 11 came up to them and asked for Nogla's signature, his eyes wide like he couldn't believe it was actually him. A girl that was either his sister or friend (Ryan couldn't tell, but she looked a year or two older) walked up behind the first kid and also asked for an autograph. But then, she noticed Ryan and Delirious. "Who's that?" She asked, tilting her head and pointing at Ryan, then Delirious. Ryan glanced at Nogla, watching his friend panic internally for a moment before he spoke. "Oh, uh, well, these two are friends of mine. Not ones I record with though." He finally said, smiling nervously at the girl. Her eyebrows raised and she looked like she doubted his words, and Ryan was about to start panicking until she pointed at him and said-- "Is he your boyfriend?" At that, both Ryan and Nogla froze instead, staring at each other, and they had no idea how the hell to respond until Delirious chimed in. 

"Yeah, but don't tell anyone. It's a secret." He whispered, definitely trying to disguise his voice somewhat. He already sounded at least a little bit different from his voice in recordings, so it wasn't too hard. The girl grinned and nodded, then waved and disappeared with her brother. Delirious looked over at Ryan, who's face was bright red and still not sure what to do. "Well? Are we gonna go look around more before we gotta do the panel, or?" He asked, grinning at the two. Wordlessly, Nogla nodded, and began to lead the way towards their panel once again.

\--

After twenty or so minutes of walking around and looking at everything, Nogla led the other two over to the huge room their panel was taking place. As it was still twenty three minutes from the start, the room was pretty empty, so they weaved through the potentially hundreds of chairs and climbed up on stage to head backstage. The stage itself had a long white table with a bunch of chairs, mics, water bottles, and other various items spread across it for the actual panel. Two of the end chairs, however, had dummies propped up in them. One of the dummies with a Jason mask and a sign reading "Delirious" taped to it. The second had bunny ears and Ryan's persona's mask tied around it, plus a sign reading "Ohm" taped to it. Ryan snickered at that and patted his dummy on the head as they passed by the table. Ryan and Delirious paused backstage, spotting a woman with a badge reading "stage manager". 

 "You three must be here for the panel." She stated, walking over to them and examining each of their passes before pointing towards a small booth set up with mics and screens, presumably for Delirious and Ryan once the others went out on stage. The stage manager shook each of their hands and smiled before ushering them past the booth and towards a couple couches surrounding a coffee table. "You can wait here until it's time to start." She instructed, then turned and disappeared into another part of the backstage area.

Ryan plopped down in the middle of the couch, and Delirious was quick to sit next to him. Nogla hesitated before sitting on his other side and leaning back against the cushions. "So now we just wait, right?" Delirious asked, glancing at Nogla and receiving a nod. Ryan let out a yawn and kicked his shoes off onto the ground, then sprawled out across both Delirious and Nogla's laps, his head in Nogla's. Delirious huffed at his friend but didn't shove him off. Nogla, on the other hand, messed up Ryan's hair a bit, then ran his fingers through it, careful not to tug too hard. Ryan leaned into his hand, letting his eyes flutter closed behind the sunglasses he was wearing. He could hear Delirious snickering at him, so he stuck his tongue out and hoped that got his general message across.

Ryan zoned out for the next 15 minutes as Nogla kept playing with his hair while he talked about something or another with Del, and it was pretty soothing, actually. Ryan only snapped back to reality because of Craig shouting, actually. He jolted up, swinging his legs off of Delirious and pushing his glasses up onto his head. "What's up, nerds." Smii7y greeted, stealing one of the only chairs and saluting to the three already seated. He wasn't alone in the chair very long though, as John stole part of the chair with ease. "Why'd ya move Ohm? That looked pretty comfy." John raised an eyebrow at Ryan, who ignored him and the faint blush on his cheeks. Luke immediately took the seat on the other side of Delirious, and Evan, Brock, Craig, Brian, and Anthony took the other couch as Marcel and Scotty battled over the second chair. Squirrel appeared last, an apologetic smile on his face. "Someone asked me for an autograph and a hug right outside." He explained quickly, sitting in the small space between Ryan and Delirious. "Look, Squirrel! You're famous!" Ryan exclaimed, holding up his hand for a high five. His friend laughed softly and high fived him with an even bigger, less apologetic grin. "Hell yeah." He replied happily.

Time passed quickly now that everyone was together, and there was quite a bit of joke arguments going on, multiple at once, but Ryan just found himself leaning against Nogla again and listening in instead of joining. He'd have plenty of time to talk during the panel.

Finally, Nogla (regretfully) pushed Ryan off his shoulder and stood up with the rest of the guys so they could get ready to go on stage. Delirious and Ryan headed over to the booth and sat on each side of the mic, sliding the headphones they were provided with onto their ears so they could hear every one of their friends as well as the crowd. And as soon as everyone started cheering, the two men shared a look of pure amazement because while they knew they had fans before, they'd never had a chance to see or hear them in person and now.. Holy shit.

The others started off the panels, saying hi and joking around a bit, but then they got down to the dummies at the end and Marcel said, "Today, we mourn the deaths of our dear friends Delirious and Ohm."

"Sometimes I can still hear their voices." Evan added.

On the silent count of three, Delirious and Ryan yelled, "STOP TELLING PEOPLE THAT WE'RE DEAD!", and the screams and cheers that erupted were so loud, they could hear it inside their soundproof box. Everyone outside was laughing, as were Ryan and Delirious. They were already having the time of their lives.

\--

The panel seemed to go by way too fast, because Ryan was having so much fun just talking with his friends to his fans. He and Delirious started tickling each other at one point and Mini poked his head backstage, looked at them, then reported that they were "simply being dumbasses" to everyone else, which got a lot of laughs.

When the event ended, Delirious and Ryan waited backstage until everyone had finished doing a couple signings and came back to the couches. Ryan bounced around, giving Luke, Evan, Nogla, and Marcel hugs in his excitement. He was so,,, happy. He thought he would be able to do something like this without erasing his anonymity, but he did! And it was amazing.

\--

Most of them were seated around a table at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner later that night. After the panel, they split up again, planning to meet up at 5:30 outside the restaurant. They'd already finished dinner, and everyone was engrossed in conversation while eating their own (or in Ryan's case, stealing some of Luke and Nogla's) cheesecake. 

Once they were all completely done and waiting to pay, Ryan found himself leaning against Nogla again, and it didn't take long before he felt his friend's fingers running through his hair. He kept chatting with Evan, but refused to move, and stayed pressed comfortably against Nogla's side until they had to leave to head back to the hotel. 

Ryan let out a sigh and slid out of the booth, pulling himself to his feet and stretching. "Noooooogla, can I just use you as a pillow?" He whined, making puppy dog eyes at him. "More like a body pillow." Anthony joked, receiving an eye roll from Nogla. Ryan was 75% sure that he was blushing, so he decided to ignore it and hope no one noticed. "Yeah, whatever, weeb." He mumbled at Anthony, grinning.

They all piled into Ubers to get back to the hotel, everyone in different groups than the ones they were in when they arrived. Ryan was with Smii7y, Kryoz, Squirrel, and Satt. Ryan stole the front seat immediately, leaving the other four to figure out where to sit. Fortunately, it didn't take long because John ended up pulling his boyfriend (Smii7y) onto his lap. 

"Why dontcha sit on Satt's lap, Squirrel?" John teased, wrapping an arm around Smii7y's waist and smirking at him. "Because you have Smii7y on yours so there's room?" Squirrel replied, his statement sounding more like a question than anything. John just mumbled "yeah, uh huh", causing Smii7y to start laughing, and Squirrel to look out the window to hide his face as it was red from what Ryan assumed to be embarrassment.

The last few minutes of the ride were spent in silence, apart from Smii7y and John whispering and snickering at their own jokes. It was.. Nice, actually.

The four of them got out in front of the hotel and headed in, then said their temporary goodbyes in the elevator. "Just be glad you don't have a room next to them." Satt joked as the elevator stopped on the second to last floor. "Yeah, you gonna be up all night listening to me suck John's di--" With that, Ryan shoved Smii7y out of the elevator. "Fantastic, sorry Satt, buddy, best of luck, night." He spoke as the doors shut on the three men in the hallway.

Squirrel and Ryan stood in silence, the two of them too tired to really keep up a conversation for the time being. They were both prepared to go to their room and straight to bed. They were at the restaurant for about 2 hours, and it was late enough to go to sleep. The elevator doors opened, and Ryan stepped out, searching his jean pockets for the keycard while walking and managing to find it and pull it out just as they reached their room. "After you." He mumbled, pushing the door open and holding it for Squirrel, who was quick to step inside and kick his shoes off by his bed. "Thanks, Ohm." The younger male plopped onto his bed and let himself fall backwards, looking up at the ceiling while Ryan went into the bathroom to change into boxers and a plain white t-shirt. After a few minutes, he came out and tapped Squirrel's knee. "Your turn to change." He said, and his friend wasted no time in grabbing his pajamas and disappearing into the bathroom. 

Right as Ryan moved to hop into bed, however, there was a knock at the door. Without a second thought, Ryan pulled open the door halfway, blinking at Nogla on the other side. "Um. Hey Nogla. What's up?" He asked, completely forgetting that he was in his boxers and a shirt and nothing else. "Uh-- Hi, Ohm, I was just coming by to ask if you had any tissues that we could have, but if you're just about to sleep I can go bother Evan for some--" Nogla's face was somewhat red, and that seemed to remind Ryan of what exactly he was wearing, and it caused his face to flush as well. "No, no, it's fine, er- wait here, I'll go grab them." He instructed, hurrying back into the main room and grabbing a box of tissues, then handed it over to Nogla. 

"Thanks. Sorry for disturbing you, man." Nogla stepped back from the door, tissue box in hand, and Ryan shook his head. "It's really fine. Squirrel's not even ready for bed yet anyway." He reassured his friend confidently, and not entirely aware that Squirrel was just coming out of the bathroom. Nogla chuckled softly and grinned tiredly at Ryan. "Night, Ryan. See you tomorrow." With that, he disappeared into his room, and Ryan shut the door, then leaned back against it and buried his head in his hands.

"Ohm? Are you good? What did he want?" Squirrel flicked off the bathroom lights and walked towards Ryan, a confused expression on his face. Instead of answering right away, Ryan let out a groan, the noise muffled by his hands. "He just wanted tissues." He said a moment later. 

"So why are you sinking to the floor and hiding your face in your hands?" 

"Because I think I'm--" Ryan cut off, his eyes suddenly glued to his palm. "Squirrel, tell me how I never noticed the number on my palm counting up from zero?" That just confused Squirrel further, and he stepped forward to sit next to Ryan. As soon as his eyes caught sight of the tiny glowing 13h 23m on his hand. 

"Guess I'm the only zero now, huh?" Squirrel finally said, hesitantly smiling at Ryan, but receiving a shake of his head instead. "Nah, man, look. Yours isn't zero anymore either." He tapped Squirrel's palm right where there was a 4h 3m that replaced his zero. 

"H.. How the hell this happen without us noticing? And who the hell are our soulmates??" He kept staring at his hand, eyebrows furrowed in even deeper confusion.

"Mine is.. Obviously one of the guys, and yours.. God, I don't know, probably someone who we have spent a lot of time with but.. I mean, it can't be Smii7y or John, they already figured out who their soulmates are. We should go talk to Evan or something--" Ryan moved to get up, but Squirrel grabbed his arm. "We can talk to them in the morning, they're all probably asleep by now. And you still didn't tell me what was wrong with Nogla." At the mention of Nogla, Ryan's face flushed red. 

"Oh. Right. Yeah, no, I was just,, agh-- I think I'm.. I think I like him." He paused at least 7 times in that one sentence alone, and stared straight at the floor the whole time. 

"Awww, that's adorable, man. But didn't he just see you in your boxers and like, nothing else?"

"That's why I was collapsed against the wall!" Squirrel started laughing a bit at that, then pulled himself up and helped Ryan to his feet.

"We'll figure this out in the morning, Ry. C'mon." With those words, Squirrel flipped the lights off and crawled into bed, and Ryan got into his, though now he figured he'd probably spend the night thinking instead of sleeping. Fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it isssssss!!!
> 
> I've been working on this for aaalmost a week. So it's considerably longer than other chapters. I didn't intend for that to happen but this did have a lot to get through (I have each chapter planned out up to a certain point, then I'll just wing it lol)


	6. Pizza And Pools

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk, i'm not particularly proud of this chapter. i'll post it anyway because i don't want to rewrite it (it'll end up nearly the same) but. its not one i'm proud of. anyway, hopefully there will be more shippy stuff next chapter, we'll see how much longer i can stall, lol

Ryan couldn't remember falling asleep. All he knew was that one minute, he was awake, thinking how fucking attractive Nogla's dumb face was, and the next, he was curled up in a ball, sound asleep. He probably could've slept through the whole day if Squirrel didn't wake him up around 11am for what was supposed to be day 2 of PAX. 

Ryan yawned and rubbed at his eyes as he sat up, his brain slowly waking up. "Morning Ohm. You gotta get dressed as fast as you can so we can catch the others before they leave without us." Squirrel chirped, smiling at Ryan and stepping away from his bed so he could go look out the window instead. Ryan nodded, yawning again before he stood up and wobbled a bit, then grabbed his clothes and stumbled into the bathroom. He splashed cold water on his face in an attempt to wake himself up, and it worked, sort of. He was able to get dressed quickly and head back out of the bathroom to where Squirrel was waiting. It took him a couple seconds to grab what he needed, then a bit longer to get his shoes on, but he was ready for the day relatively quickly. "Alright, where is everyone?" He asked as Squirrel locked the door behind them this time, then led the way to the elevator. 

"They should be eating breakfast. You can probably steal some from Evan or something if you're lucky." His friend replied, hitting the button for the first floor and leaning back against the wall. 

"Alright. Are.. We gonna tell them about our soulmate situation?" Ryan asked hesitantly, looking at his palm, which had the same number it did last night. Squirrel nodded, running a hand through his messy hair. 

"Yeah. We have to if you wanna find your soulmate. I.. Have kind of an idea. As for who mine.. Might be." He trailed off at the end, just in time for the elevator doors to open. "Cmon, you need food or you'll pass out, Ohm." He stepped out, Ryan right behind him as they walked towards the nice looking restaurant inside the hotel. Immediately, Luke waved them over to their table, which looked unusually empty. "Where is everyone else?" Ryan asked, sliding into the seat next to Anthony. 

"Evan, Brian, Nogla, Craig, and Delirious are all at PAX early for another event. I think it's apart of some signing thing with other youtubers. And Smii7y, John, Marcel, and Scotty all left because they wanted to do stuff. Though I'm pretty sure Smii7y and John are on a date or something." Brock explained, then took a bite of his food.

"Ahh. Makes sense. Do you guys mind if I steal some of your food?" Ryan asked, looking mainly at Anthony and Brock. Anthony shook his head but grabbed an extra plate that was on the table and held it out to Ryan, then scooted his plate a bit closer. "Don't take all of it, or I will be very angry." He warned, though he was smiling as Ryan took some eggs, potatoes, a strip of bacon, and a piece of toast. 

"You're the best, Jiggly." Ryan replied simply, beaming at him and sliding his friend's plate back over to him.

Throughout the meal, he checked his timer a couple times, but it never changed. Which did lower his options, and raised his anxiety. He didn't spend enough time with most of them yesterday for their time to be that high, which lowered it to Evan, Brian, Nogla, Craig, or Delirious. Well, no, minus Delirious, he found his soulmate already. So it was one of the other four.

\--

After they all finished eating, Ryan made eye contact with Squirrel in an attempt to silently let him know that he was gonna bring up their situations.

"Uh, okay, this isn't the best time, but I need you guys to listen to me for a sec." He spoke, catching everyone's attention. "So last night, Squirrel and I found out that our soulmate timers weren't at zero like they were when we arrived." Everyone was silent for a moment, looking confused.

"Um, congrats? Are you saying you two are soulmates or??" Luke asked finally, raising an eyebrow at Ryan. 

"No, no! I didn't mean that, we would've known earlier if we were. I've managed to deduce that my soulmate is definitely one of our friends though. And it's not one of you, so it's gotta be one of the guys at the panel." Ryan spoke most of that in one breath, his anxiety levels rising even higher. 

There was a beat of silence again before Anthony broke it. "I bet it's Evan or Nogla." He stated, smirking at Ryan, causing him to blush. 

"Well it ain't Delirious, that bitch is mine." Cartoonz chimed in, chuckling a bit, then looked at Squirrel. "What about you, Squirrel? You said your timer went up too."

Squirrel froze, biting his lip and staring at the table for a moment, not quite sure how to word what he wanted to say. "Uhh.. Well.. .. My soulmate could either be Satt or Chilled. Cause I spent a good portion of Pax yesterday hanging out with Chilled but I also spent awhile hanging out with Satt so.." 

"Hey, I could help you guys track down Satt and Chilled if you want. I was talking to them earlier about where they were gonna be." Brock offered, receiving an immediate nod from Squirrel. "We should get going right now then. We're all done anyway. Seeya later guys, text us if you need us." Ryan scooted out of his seat and stood, quickly joined by Squirrel and Brock. Anthony and Luke waved goodbye before going back to talking again.

\--

It didn't take the three of them very long to walk to the convention center, only about 20 minutes with relatively decent traffic. They got in without a hitch once more, and continued up to the 3rd floor before Brock stopped to check his phone. "Chilled is on this floor with a couple friends of his, Satt's on the next floor up." He spoke, looking up from his phone and searching the room they were in. "Not this room though, follow me." Quickly, he walked into a different room and looked around, then seemed to recognize it because he walked deeper inside and Squirrel and Ryan had to weave through people to keep up with him.

It took a while longer before they finally found Chilled, who grinned and waved at them as he recognized Brock rather fast, and Squirrel. Ryan was pretty sure he knew it was him too. 

"Hey guys! What's up? Sorry for making you come in here but I didn't wanna risk losing them." Chilled pointed back at his 4 friends who were talking behind him. "Do you need me to do anything or?"

Squirrel nodded slowly. "This is gonna sound a bit weird, but can I see your soulmate timer?" He asked, and Chilled lifted up his hand. "It's just a zero, but sure? Go ahead." He replied, and Squirrel let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

"Thanks Chilled. That's all we needed. Have fun at PAX!" Ryan called as the three of them turned to leave.

"Wait, where are you going?!" Chilled called back, and Squirrel lifted his hand to show his timer. "To find Sattelizer!" And with that, they left a confused Chilled and continued up to the fourth floor.

\--

 "You're 100% sure it is Satt?" Ryan asked, holding on to Squirrel's arm as they weaved through crowds of people on the next floor up. He got a shrug in response. "No, but it's the best guess I have. Plus, remember John's comment in the car? He could've seen the number on my hand going up and thought we already knew about it." He pointed out, latching onto Brock's arm after they almost got separated. Ryan decided that was a fair point and fell quiet, just focusing on looking for Satt, who was here with Ze, Bryce, and other people. Probably doing a signing or something.

Squirrel made a noise that couldn't exactly be put into words, and tugged on both Ryan and Brock's arms. "I see him! Follow me." He said, looking back at the two before his gaze shifted to Satt again and he started weaving through the crowd over towards the side of the room. As they got closer, they stepped to the side of a growing line that looked like it was mainly for Bryce. Ryan.. Tried not to look at him. He missed him quite a bit, but he refused to take his words back. And he didn't want his old dumb feelings coming back because Bryce probably looked hella good now, and.. Ugh. Luckily, Satt was off to the side where Bryce hopefully wouldn't notice them, so Ryan took the lead and hurried over to him as fast as possible. Squirrel started to say something, but realized why Ryan was suddenly so anxious and stopped, putting a hand on his bicep lightly and following him. The three friends came to a stop in from of Satt, who looked really surprised to see all of them. "Hey guys. Are you all okay?" He mainly said that due to Ryan's anxious fidgeting, and Ryan just nodded quickly, then let Squirrel take over.

"Um. Well, do you think I can see your right hand for a moment?" He asked, starting to worry that it might not be Satt after all.

"Sure, man. Wait, you mean the one with my timer? Why?" Satt had already held out his hand when he asked the question, so Squirrel didn't answer until he looked at the number on his hand, then sighed in relief. He just wanted to find his soulmate and be done with it, and now he had. 

"Look." He said simply, showing Satt his own hand. "They match. And they're still going up." The dark haired male blinked slowly, then broke into a grin. "Aw shit, really? I never actually thought I'd have a soulmate. Or that it'd end up being my friend's cute friend." Squirrel opened his mouth to reply, then seemed to process Satt's words and blushed. 

"So.. What do we do now?" He finally said, trying to pretend he wasn't blushing. Satt just gave a shrug. "Give me your phone and I can give you my phone number. Cause I don't think we should text through the groupchat alone." 

"Fair point." Squirrel didn't hesitate to pull his phone out and unlock it, then handed it to Satt. It only took him a minute to type it in and hand it back. 

"Do you wanna join me for lunch in like an hour? I'm planning to leave these guys to their signing so I can get food but.. I'd be a-okay with turning it into a date." Satt added a wink, and Squirrel grinned up at him. 

"I'd.. I'd love to!" He exclaimed, eyes sparkling. Satt grinned back and finger gunned as he moved to go back towards Bryce. Then, he paused, debating something, and stepped forward to quickly kiss Squirrel's cheek. "I'll text you." He stated, then turned away and kept going. 

Squirrel turned to Ryan with a huge grin, his face still flushed. "We could try to find Evan, Nogla, Craig, and Brian's spot if you want." He chirped, only for Ryan to shake his head.

"I'm gonna head back to the hotel. I'll be back later, I just need to do something. Also, good job, Squirrel. I'm proud of you." With that, Ryan turned and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Brock and Squirrel behind.

\--

Ryan was on his way back to the hotel when he passed a Starbucks and stopped for coffee, then kept going. He didn't feel like sticking around for PAX, or talking to anyone really. He probably should've been ecstatic that he'd finally figure out who his soulmate was, but he was more scared than anything. Mostly because he knew who he really wanted it to be. And, with his dumb luck in life, he doubted he'd end up with him. Then that led to the problem of him not wanting to be disappointed with who his soulmate was, because he absolutely adored all his friends and-- ugh. His emotions were a complete mess.

So, instead, he decided to disappear for a few hours.

\--

 Squirrel wandered around and hung out with Brock a bit more before he received a text from Satt asking where he was. Brock took that as his cue to go, and headed out to go find Evan and the others. Squirrel replied to the text after waving goodbye to Brock, and it only took Satt about 10 minutes to find him. Impressive, for both the size of the building and for how many people were inside. 

Squirrel grinned at Satt, wondering what his soulmate could have planned. "You wanna get pizza?" Satt asked, grinning back at him, and Squirrel's face lit up. "Hell yeah I do." He agreed immediately, then looked around for the exit. Satt suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door, not exactly noticing the man's bright red face at his actions. He definitely didn't mind though, and kept ahold of his hand even after they were away from the crowds of people.

The two kept walking hand in hand, occasionally saying something that made the other burst out laughing. At one point, Satt made a joke about his eyebrows, and Squirrel leaned on him a bit as they walked, laughing too hard to walk right.

\--

Satt spent most of the time just trying to make Squirrel laugh, while Squirrel tried his best to make him laugh too. Even though neither of them had been on a LOT of dates before, they found themselves enjoying it more than any other.

When they finally started walking back, Squirrel paused just around the corner from the convention center.

"Squirrel? Are you okay?" Satt asked, confused by why he'd stopped here instead of outside the center.

"I'm fine! I just,, uhh, I wanted to do this now when there's not a bunch of people around."

"Do,, what?" Before Satt could say anything else, Squirrel stepped closer and very lightly kissed him. Then he stepped back and grinned. "That." He spoke smugly, as Satt was the one blushing now. Satt chuckled and ran a hand through his hair.

"I should probably go back up to Bryce and Ze, huh?" He said after a moment, looking at the building behind them. Squirrel nodded.

"I should find Evan and everyone else. I gotta help Ohm out with something."

"Well, uh, thanks for joining me. It was amazing." Squirrel giggled and started walking towards the entrance again. "It was. We should definitely do it again sometime."

\--

Ryan was alone. He hadn't been alone at all the past few days. Squirrel was normally around at least. But now he was alone and his bad thoughts were finally catching up to him. 

He spent 20 minutes pacing around his room, too fidgety to sit. Then he tried playing a video game on his laptop, but he gave up almost immediately. Eventually, he ended up in the pool. Nobody else was there, so he just swam and swam in circles until he got dizzy, then he waited a bit before starting again. 

He didn't let himself sit still.


	7. Gay Panic At Its Finest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is probably the cutest chapter. pool gays owo

David was practically glowing at he was walking out of their designated room for signing, a huge grin on his face. The entire experience felt almost like a dream. He'd given and received so many hugs and gifts, it was impossible to count. And though his hand was stiff from all the signing he did, he barely noticed. He was walking next to Evan, Craig, and Brian. Delirious had disappeared with Luke a couple minutes ago, so it was just the four of them back in a YouTubers only lounge, joking around and talking for a bit until suddenly, Squirrel appeared, looking a bit winded. The younger man took a moment to catch his breath before speaking. 

"Hey, I, um. I need to talk to all of you guys for a moment. Uh, I need to know what your soulmate timer is at. It's.. Important." He finally said, wasting no time in getting to the point. Truth be told, he was worried about Ohm. He got the feeling that something was off, and it probably had to do with his soulmate.

All four of the others looked confused, but lifted their hands for Squirrel to read.

"Mine's been at zero this whole time, man." Evan said, glancing at everyone else's as well. Squirrel went over Brian and Craig's hands without blinking, but froze as soon as he caught sight of David's.

"Oh, thank god." He mumbled, seeming to relax a bit. But David looked more confused. He hadn't yet actually noticed the number change on his palm, as his days had been too busy and he was too distracted to care about soulmates until..

"What the fock! It was a zero on the plane here!" David exclaimed, staring at his hand with furrowed brows.

"How did you not notice, dumbass?" Evan asked, a joking tone to his voice as he glanced at David's timer. 

"Wait, who the hell even is your soulmate then?" Brian added, analyzing the number and what David said about it being zero when he was on the plane.

Just as Craig opened his mouth to add on, Squirrel spoke up again. 

"I know who your soulmate is. That's why I had to find you guys."

That caught everyone's attention in no time. "Well?? Who is it?" David asked impatiently, raising an eyebrow at Squirrel. 

"It's Ohm. He just noticed his last night and since we woke up after you all left, we couldn't talk to you, so.."

"Where the hell is he? I gotta talk to him." David asked, looking like he might be ready to bolt out and find him right then. 

"He's back at the hotel. I don't think he's feeling good,,, emotionally at least." Squirrel sighed, letting his worried expression take over. 

"I'll find him and make sure he's alright." David assured him, softly smiling at the other. Squirrel nodded and smiled back. 

"You got it, man." He encouraged. Evan followed it up with a "Yeah! Go get your man, Nogla!" And though he was laughing, he, Brian, and Craig were grinning and giving David some thumbs ups as he sped out of the lounge and towards the stairs to get to the street. He ran towards the hotel for a bit, then had to stop because he ran out of breath, and walked the rest of the way. 

He'd always been at least a lil bit attracted to Ohm, mostly because.. Well, he was a cute dumbass. Even when yelling about eating ass. But his affection for his friend had grown considerably after spending so much time with him the last few days, which was convenient, he supposed, as they were soulmates, according to Squirrel. 

As David slipped through the hotel's front door, he started towards the elevators to go up to Ohm's room, but paused. He could've gone somewhere else too. He had to double check. So, he turned to the front desk and waved to get the receptionist's attention. "Hey, have you seen a guy who's a bit shorter than me with light brown hair that kinda sticks up? And a short beard, wearing either a gray or white hoodie?" He asked, trying to be specific as he could to describe Ohm. He assumed he was wearing a hoodie though. He seemed to wear them a lot. 

The lady nodded, smiling at David. "Yes, I did just about an hour ago. He was asking where the pool was located." David's eyes widened, and he nodded. 

"Thank you so much." He called out, already rushing over to the elevator. He smashed the button to get up to the top floor. He knew where the pool was, and he had to be prepared. So, obviously, he was hurrying up to grab his swim trunks. He just wished the elevator was faster so he wouldn't risk missing Ohm. 

\--

It took him a couple minutes to dig through his bag for his suit, then actually get it on and grab a towel, but he was finally on his way down to the pool and, hopefully, to Ohm. He pressed the button for the 5th floor, the one where the pool was located, if he was correct. He read the pamphlet for the hotel on their first night there, and it said where the pool was. He was there in relatively no time at all. 

He made sure to walk down the hallway, not wanting to disturb anyone in his search for his soulmate. His bare feet were silent on the carpet as he reached the door labeled "pool" and slipped inside. 

At first, David thought it was empty. There wasn't a person in the pool itself, nor in the hot tub, and the changing rooms were silent and dark. But then, he caught sight of the single towel sitting on one of the chairs, and his gaze lit up. He walked around the hot tub, which was right next to the pool and was risen up a little bit, and that's where he found Ohm. On the edge of the pool, propped up against the hot tub, fast asleep. 

David's gaze softened, and he set his towel down, then crouched next to Ohm. He put his arm in front of him, just to make sure that his friend wouldn't fall in when he tapped his shoulder to wake him up, and it was a good thing he did it too, because Ohm jolted awake, saw David, and fell into his arm. 

"Christ Ohm, be careful, you could've fallen in." David commented, pulling Ohm closer so he wouldn't actually fall in. Ohm looked lost for words, he was too busy staring at David. 

"Are you alright, man?" David hesitated before asking, slowly removing his arms and sitting down on the edge next to Ohm instead. He got a slow nod in return. 

"Why are you here? How'd you find me?" Ohm breathed, scanning David up and down. 

"Squirrel sent me. Cause o' this." With that, he lifted his hand so Ohm could see the glowing number on his palm, and as if on cue, the number ticked up a minute. 

"Wait you're my--" Ohm cut himself off, his eyes wide and his cheeks were slowly turning red right before David's eyes. This time, David was the one to nod. 

\--

Ryan could barely breathe. His heart was pounding against his chest so hard--Nogla HAD to be able to hear it. It was all Ryan could hear. Well, that and Nogla's voice. His fucking perfect voice. Goddammit. 

"Are.. Are you disappointed?" He finally asked, amazed that he wasn't stuttering. He was in shock. He'd just figured out he was head over heels for Nogla yesterday and now he was figuring out they were soulmates. It's like life decided he needed everything dumped on him all at once, what the fuck. 

"Hell no." That wasn't the response Ryan expected. "Are you?" He didn't expect Nogla to ask that either. 

He shook his head immediately, his heart still thumping loudly in his chest. "No. No, no, definitely not, I.. I kinda. Um. Figured out that I liked you yesterday. When you stopped by to ask about tissues."

"Really?" It wasn't a question, it was more of a.. Prompter for Ryan to go on. Go on about what? Wait.

"Well. Like isn't a great word, actually. It'd probably be closer to uhh.. Head over heels for you. Yeah." NOW Ryan was stuttering a bit, because the way Nogla was looking at him.. He could barely breathe again. Fuck. 

"It's good that I'm head over heels for you too then." Nogla replied, grinning softly at Ryan. It felt like his heart was melting. Holy shit. He couldn't move either. 

\--

David could tell that Ohm was panicking, but not in a bad way. More in a.. Extreme gay panic way. So, really, he did the only reasonable thing. 

He pushed his soulmate into the pool. 

\--

One second, Ryan was staring into Nogla's eyes and fucking melting, and the next, he had been pushed into the pool. 

He sunk down a bit, then scrambled up the the surface, gasping for air, then glared playfully at Nogla. "You're a dick. We were having a moment!" He huffed, his panic mostly washed away because this was something he was used to. Just.. Goofing around with one of his best friends. 

Nogla laughed loudly, grinning even wider at Ryan. "You were panicking, I had ta help you somehow." He stated simply, before he stood up, then jumped into the water with him. 

They were closer enough to the deep end that Ryan was stuck treading water, but Nogla could stand fairly easily. So, Ryan swam over to where Nogla stood and latched onto him, wrapping his legs around his waist and his arms around his neck, and shook his head at him.

"You're still a dick." He stated, and Nogla raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh really? I thought you said you were in love with me." 

"Yeah, whatever." Ryan huffed, rolling his eyes. He expected a laugh or a response from Nogla, but instead, he found his chin being pulled to face his soulmate and he blinked, and then he was pulled into a kiss.

Part of Ryan was freaking out again, but the rest of him.. Was totally calm. And luckily, that was the part that took over. 

When Nogla pulled back from the kiss, he opened his mouth, probably to ask if Ryan was okay with it, but Ryan yanked him back in before he could say anything, their mouths fitting together perfectly, almost like two puzzle pieces made just for each other.

Finally, Ryan understood what it was like to be with your soulmate.

\--

Surprisingly enough, it was kind of hard to make out in a pool without drowning, so after a couple almost-but-not-quite-heated kisses, Ryan and David gave up on trying to kiss, and they just goofed around for awhile instead. Ryan was a faster swimmer, but David wasn't far behind him. At one point, the Irishman caught up to his soulmate and lifted him up bridal style so they could kiss again, and then proceeded to drop him back in the water, which resulted from more loud complaining about David being a dick. 

When they finally got tired of swimming, they climbed out and dried off, kissing another few times, just for good measure, before they headed out to the elevator to get up to their rooms. Surprisingly enough, Ryan had figured out that he really, REALLY liked kissing Nogla. Big shocker.

Ryan leaned against Nogla's chest in the elevator, though they didn't kiss, as there was a young woman in there with them. Luckily, she didn't say anything and got out a couple floors before them. 

They were mostly dry by the time they reached their doors, which was good because they both had to change back into their regular clothes. Ryan must've changed at the speed of light however, because when David had just barely pulled his jeans on and still wasn't wearing a shirt, Ryan burst in, fully dressed, and tackled him onto the bed. "Focking hell, Ohm! You could've knocked first!" David cried out, staring up at Ryan who looked,,, really proud of himself. 

"Why? You would've put a shirt on!"

"I could've been not wearing pants!" 

"So? Aren't we, um, sort of kinda boyfriends?"

At that, David froze, not realizing that Ryan was definitely, 100% ready for that. ".. Do you  _want_ to be boyfriends?" He asked, tilting his head. 

"Um. Yes. Please." David laughed at Ryan's words and pulled him down for another kiss, speaking against his lips-- "You'll have to wait to see me without pants though, you horny rabbit." He joked, and Ryan made a noise of protest against the kiss and pulled back, playfully glaring again. "LISTEN, NOGLA--" But David absolutely did not listen, and yanked him down for a kiss instead. 

Ryan didn't seem to want to argue more after that, because he was quick to kiss back, and it didn't take long for the kiss to become rather heated. That was when there was a loud knock on the door and Ryan begrudgingly pulled away and was about to go open the door, but Squirrel opened it before he could. "Oops." Ryan mumbled, realizing he'd forgotten to lock it. 

Squirrel stared at them for a moment, then grinned. "Oh, good. You wasted no time in making out, that's much better than what could've happened." He stated leaning against the door frame. Both Ryan and David's faces were bright red as Ryan scrambled off of David and onto the ground, and David pulled a shirt on. 

"Why'd you come to find us, Squirrel?" Ryan asked, completely ignoring that he'd just walked in on him and his fr--boyfriend making out. 

"Cause nobody else wanted to see what I just saw. And cause we're all going to the movies together." 

"Oh! Okay!"

"But I was also instructed to tell you, if I found you kissing or being gay, that you aren't allowed to make out in the movie theatre. Don't worry, the same rule applies to John, Smii7y, Cartoonz, and Delirious." Squirrel smirked a bit at them. 

"Oh? What about you and Satt?" Ryan replied, smirking back at him. 

"Shut up! We've barely even kissed." Squirrel turned around and walked out the door as he spoke, but Ryan was well aware that his friend's face was bright red. 

"Right, uh huh."


	8. Final Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you guys would like another couple chapters added on for ships other than Nogla and Ohm! I can do more Satt and Squirrel (though it's kinda hard to write, they're too cute for me to write), Delirious and Toonz, or Kryoz and Smii7y. I can also do other one-shots in a separate thing entirely, just let me know what you wanna read! (You can send in multiple things, cause I can't guarantee I will want to do everything. Some ships just aren't my cup of tea.)  
> Also! There's semi-nsfw bit at the end, but only like. Making out n shit but it's not even in much detail so. yEEt
> 
> This is mostly just a short, feel good chapter bc the next one is gonna be the one where they go home, probably.

The movie was interesting, Ryan was sure, but to be honest, he'd spent most of the time whispering to his boyfriend and cuddling with him as best he could. Just because kissing was off limits didn't mean he couldn't continue to be gay in the theatre. 

On his left, Smii7y and John were doing the same thing, except Smii7y was halfway in John's lap and somehow paying attention to the movie too. Amazing, really. Especially because John seemed to be doing it too.

As soon as the movie was over, Ryan found himself listening in to a conversation between Evan and Mini as they left the theater, talking about something having to do with motorcycles. Ryan assumed it probably had something to do with the movie they'd just watched, so he only made one real contribution before backing out.

"Hm. Fuck motorcycles." He stated simply, then moved to walk next to Nogla instead while Evan and Mini broke down laughing.

"W,,what the fuck, Ohm?" Mini asked between laughs, looking back at him with pure confusion on his face. Evan shared his expression. 

"The fuck did motorcycles ever do to you?" He added, raising an eyebrow and managing to calm his own laughter pretty fast. Ryan just shook his head. "You don't wanna know, Ev." He said, and left it at that.

They were back on the street, and Ryan was absorbed in a conversation with Nogla when he finally noticed Satt and Squirrel walking behind them, hands linked together. He immediately had to smile, it was too cute not to, really. Satt and Squirrel weren't very close at all, he knew, and yet.. They were already so happy and comfortable around each other.

Nogla glanced back at them too, after seeing Ryan's gaze, and his eyes softened as well before returning to his silly boyfriend. "Ohm, we gotta be the better couple. They're gonna beat us." He mumbled, breaking Ryan out of his thoughts. 

"Even if we do beat them, how are we supposed to beat the others?" Ryan asked, gesturing first at Cartoonz and Delirious, where Delirious was laughing hysterically over something or another, and Cartoonz was looking at him with the gayest grin that Ryan had ever seen. Then, he gestured at John and Smii7y, where the younger of the two was currently talking loudly and excitedly about something, and his boyfriend looked mildly interested, but seemed even more interested in vaping and blowing a cloud of smoke at him instead. This resulted in a yelp from Smii7y, before he elbowed John and moved to complain to Evan, as Mini was laughing at their antics now.

Nogla assessed the situation. "Ah. True. We just gotta try though. Even if we win out of you just being hot as fock." His statement made Ryan's cheeks heat up again and he giggled, nudging Nogla. "You say that like you aren't also hot as fuck." He stated, grinning wider when Nogla's face also turned red.

"Whatever you say, Ohm."

\--

It was relatively late by the time they all had gotten dinner (they'd stopped at a sushi restaurant on the way back) and arrived back at the hotel, but instead of sleeping or relaxing, they split up into different rooms, due to being unable to fit all of them at once. Cartoonz, Delirious, Squirrel, and Satt were in one, while everyone else (Craig, Evan, Brian, Nogla, and Anthony, at least) decided to take over Ryan's room while he was in it. The few others disappeared somewhere else for a bit "Heyyy, did everyone bring their laptops?" Ryan asked after a couple minutes of just chatting, looking around at his friends.

A chorus of yeses and nods came from everyone, and he grinned and pulled out his computer. "We should play a friendly game of Golf It to pass the time." At least 3 of them groaned, but got up to get their computers anyway. It wasn't like they had anything better to do. 

Finally, when everyone was all set up--Evan and Brian on the carpeted floor, Anthony and Craig on Squirrel's bed, and Nogla and Ryan on Ryan's bed--they started to play. It was definitely more fun playing in person, as it meant that everyone could see on another's facial expressions when they got pissed at the game. Anthony was nearly dying as one point thanks to how angry Nogla was at the stupid game, and pretty soon Ryan and Craig had joined him. Then, when Ryan mumbled "karma, bitch", Nogla didn't hesitate to nearly shove him off the bed, only causing everyone to laugh harder.

They group continued to play Golf IT for another half hour before Squirrel walked in, and everyone realized what time it was. 10:47pm. They only had a day left in Seattle, and they all wanted to wake up early-ish the next morning, so everyone but Nogla and Ryan cleared out. Squirrel raised an eyebrow as soon as he realized Nogla wasn't leaving. 

"You guys want me to sleep in Delirious and Cartoonz's room or something?" He asked, a smirk on his face. Ryan wrinkled his nose at him in response.

"Shut up Squirrel, no." He huffed, moving to shove his laptop back into his bag and curled up against Nogla's chest. 

Squirrel rolled his eyes and walked towards the bathroom. "Right, whatever. I'm taking a 20 minute shower because this place is nice as fuck. Do whatever but I wanna sleep when I get out." And with that, the younger man disappeared into the room, leaving them alone. 

Without warning, Nogla shifted and flipped himself over Ryan, making it so he was pinning his idiot to the bed. "You wanna see some fuckin' karma, Ohm?" He asked, his voice low as he spoke next to his ear. It amused him to see just how quickly Ryan melted in his hands at his words, his face bright red. 

\--

David stared at Ryan for a moment, hesitating before leaning down to capture his lips in a kiss. The kiss grew heated rather quickly, their mouths fighting in a battle for dominance, though David definitely had the upper hand. It only really stopped being a battle when a soft, very real moan slipped out from his boyfriend's lips as David bit his bottom lip lightly. 

He pulled away, smirking smugly at Ryan, who was panting a bit below him. "J,,,jesus fuck, Nogla." Ryan muttered, eyes half lidded at he stared back at David. The taller man leaned down, pressing his lips against Ryan's neck instead, feeling the other draw a slow breath as he did so. 

He worked quickly, biting and kissing all over his neck until there was a trail of hickeys that would be extremely hard for him to hide the next day. And the best part was that Ryan didn't seem to notice, he was too busy letting David do just what he wanted with him. 

When David moved back again, climbing off of Ryan and curling up on his bed again, the other took a moment to collect himself before he crawled back into David's lap tiredly. "You really are a horny rabbit, huh Ohm?" He gently teased, grabbing a book he'd brought with him from his room. 

"Oh, fuck off." Ryan groaned, yawning softly and stretching his arms over his head. 

"If only you'da seen yourself, Ohm, you were a mess." David kept teasing, just getting a huff in response this time, and then Ryan fell silent

After a couple more minutes, Squirrel stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in pajama pants and a tank top. "Oh good, you guys didn't fuuu--" He cut off as soon as he looked at Ryan's neck, and raised an eyebrow. "Or did you?"

"W-wha--wait, FUCK!" Ryan yelped, suddenly realizing precisely exactly what David did to his neck, and he dived under the covers. Both David and Squirrel started laughing at him, and Squirrel walked over to his bed. "You're allowed to stay as long as you don't do anything over there." He informed David, pulling his blankets over his body and laying down, facing away from them once David nodded in response. 

It wasn't long before Ryan had actually fallen asleep on top of David without bothering to come out from under the covers, and pretty soon, David put his book aside and turned off the one light left on, then followed suit. All was well.


	9. And All Was Well

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check out my new short krii7y fic  
> its angsty, oops
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/16034738/chapters/37427552
> 
> ill do more krii7y in this au too, don't you worry (i love them sm)
> 
> THIS IS RLY SHORT CAUSE! I RAN OUT OF IDEAS ! BUt i did wanna finish it up somehow so heeere. an epilogue.

Ryan woke up with two pale arms wrapped comfortably around his waist, and he smiled contentedly, pressing back against Nogla's chest.  He didn't open his eyes until he felt his boyfriend moving beneath him, and then he shifted to look up at him. "Mornin', Ohm." Nogla hummed, yawning after he spoke and lightly kissing the top of his head. Ryan giggled a bit and wriggled out of his grip so that he could turn around and lightly kiss him on the lips. He suddenly remembered what was happening today, and he pulled away completely, though Nogla let out a groan at the loss of Ryan's warmth. "Get up, Nogla! We've gotta pack up right now if we wanna hang out a bit more before leaving Seattle." He said, and the other slowly pushed himself out of bed, then paused to stretch. "Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'." He stated, grabbing his book from the bedside table. 

"I'll head back to my room to pack now. I'll see you in a bit, Ohm." With that, the Irishman disappeared from the room, leaving Ryan and a still-sleeping Squirrel. Ryan moved to grab his stuff from around the room, dropping it next to his bag so it was all in one place. He was about halfway done when Squirrel finally stirred, then sat up. "Mmmmorning." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes and looking over at Ryan.

"Morning, Squirrel." The older man replied, grabbing one of his hoodies from where it had ended up on the floor. Squirrel slid out of bed so he could join Ryan in gathering his stuff, though he was still clearly tired. "Don't fall back asleep just yet, Squirrel."

"Shhush up, Ohm."

\--

Once everyone was up and packed, they all agreed to meet up at a nearby Starbucks before everyone left for their various flights all leaving throughout the day. They spent about 25 minutes chatting before Evan, Smii7y, and John headed out first. Evan and Smitt back to Canada, and though John could've probably stayed longer, the drive home was something he wanted to do while he still had energy and coffee, and as Smii7y was leaving, he was ready to go. 

Brian and Nogla were preparing to head out shortly after, so Ryan stole Nogla for a couple minutes to give him a quick hug and a peck on the lips, then let him go. He waited until their Uber was gone before heading back inside to where Squirrel was waiting. They were scheduled to leave next, as were Cartoonz and Delirious, so the four of them said somewhat teary eyed goodbyes to everyone who was left, though they'd deny it ever happening later. 

It wasn't long before Ryan and Squirrel found themselves on a plane again, back to Illinois this time. And when both of them ended up passing out for most of the ride, it didn't seem to take long before they were back at Ryan's house once again. 

\--

And then, before long, Squirrel was on his way home, and Ryan was finally all alone for good. He flopped onto his bed, letting out a long sigh of relief. He loved his friends, yeah, but sometimes he needed some alone time, and now.. It was good to be home.

That being said, he reached out for his phone, pulling up the groupchat without a second thought. 

 

Ohm: You guys all got home safe?

Mini: yeah!

Marcel: Yep, home sweet home.

Toonzy: Delirious and I are all good.

Brian: just got back about 25 minutes ago. im so fuckin tired

Evanoss: that was an awesome pax

Smii7y: YEET!

Kryoz: shut your fuck smitt

Smii7y: yeet you bitch

Daithi: wow. truly relationship goals, they are.

Smii7y: HELL YEAH WE ARE!

 

Ryan rolled his eyes and closed the chat, ready to pass the fuck out once again. 

God, it was good to be back in his bed again.

\--

Nothing really changed in their friend group, despite the new relationships that were blossoming into existence. Ryan and Nogla kept most of their relationship to themselves, and called almost every day outside of recording, occasionally, Ryan even did a facecam just for Nogla. 

They didn't say anything about their relationship in a video for a while, and it had been nearly a year when Ryan and Nogla both decided to casually mention it in a video or two, and their fans wasted no time in trying to figure out whether they were joking or not. Nothing was said from either of them to confirm or deny the suspicions, but the occasional cute gay comments kept being made by the two, and most fans had it figured out after a month or two. Squirrel and Satt started recording together more and more over the next year, and though they never actually said anything about dating, it seemed like a couple fans caught on as time went on, so they didn't really need to. 

Ryan found himself smiling for no real reason sometimes, and everything was.. Well, not exactly perfect but uh.. It was pretty close. If only Ryan could see his dumb Irish boyfriend more often.


End file.
